Sponsor

Sponsor

Man charged with supplying gun in teen's death

A 19-year-old man was charged Monday with supplying the gun that killed a 15-year-old boy on Thanksgiving Day at a St. Paul home.

According to the charges filed in Ramsey County District Court, Daniel Thomas Cornell of St. Paul and two juveniles were playing with the revolver before one of the juveniles, Darion Joseph Smith, was fatally shot.

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office will file juvenile charges Tuesday against a 16-year-old male in connection with the shooting, police said.

Witnesses reported hearing the juvenile say he didn't know the gun was loaded and didn't mean to shoot Smith, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities say Smith died of a gunshot wound to the head.

"This was a tragically senseless act, and involved young people who seemed to have no regard for the lives of others, including their own friends," Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said in a statement released Monday.

Cornell also faces charges for allegedly firing shots at a house a half block away, using the same gun. According to police, Cornell told officers he believed the house was occupied by a group who had chased him and hit him with a bat.